Twitter removes thousands of Saudi ‘state-backed’ accounts

Twitter said it had removed 5,925 accounts for violating its “platform manipulation” policies

Twitter has banned almost 6,000 accounts for being part of an alleged state-backed information operation originating in Saudi Arabia.

The social media network announced the bans in a public blog posted on Friday.

It accused the accounts of violating its “platform manipulation policies” as part of a “significant” operation.

Twitter said they were part of a larger network of more than 88,000 accounts engaging in “spammy behaviour” on a “wide range of topics”.

“Primarily, accounts were amplifying messages favourable to Saudi authorities, mainly through inauthentic engagement tactics such as aggressive liking, retweeting and replying,” the platform said in its post.

Twitter said the majority of the content was in Arabic, but some also “related to events relevant to Western audiences”.

Twitter believe the “co-ordinated” activity can be traced to a social media marketing company called Smaat based in Saudi Arabia.

BBC News has approached both the Saudi government and Smaat for comment about Twitter’s allegations.